Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ The Babbysitter Affair ❯ Gain and Loss ( Chapter 17 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

The Babysitter Affair: Chapter 17

Outside of the restaurant, Knuckles stood resting his back against the prestigious structure.

His arms were folded against his chest while one leg was crossed over the other.

His head was lowered in frequent thought and his eyes were closed.

Amy, of course, was already inside the fancy looking establishment engaging in her interview.

About 20 minutes had passed since then.

Knuckles had decided to go outside and wait for her.

And as he did, thoughts of his life upto this point encircled his mind and gave way to further contemplations.

Once Rouge declared when her little vacation was over with, he would remind her of their second marriage and then move away from the city.

Knuckles was determined to do whatever it took to make things right with his wife.

He knew that someday all his hard work and efforts would pay off.

'...Or backfire in my face...' he commented silently to himself.

Either way, he was going to prove his love to her. In case somehow, she had forgotten in that strange mind of hers.

He paused slightly in his deliberations when he felt a soft breeze flutter over his body.

His violet eyes slowly revealed themselves to the horizons before him.

Then he remembered he didn't have time to throw a shirt on earlier that morning.

Quietly, he chuckled to himself. “...I'm such a moron...” he spoke in tones lightly above a whisper.

His words carried both frivolous and serious meanings.

Leaving the house without wearing a shirt was foolish; even if he was in a rush to help his friend.

And in the back of his mind, he felt torn and very idiotic continuing to put up with staying with the woman he married.

She wasn't returning his feelings.

While he understood sometimes that took a little more than a few years to grow into, with Rouge, her focus just seemed not to be on him at all.

Then again, maybe he was just looking into things unnecessarily harshly.

A big whoosh of air whisked from him as he sighed heavily.

“This is what I get for having time to think...” he groused, running a mitt through his dreads. “I end up thinking I have more problems than I actually do. ...Gives me a headache...”

He forced a small laugh, then returned to his previous relaxed posture.

“Yeah, I'm just thinking too much...” he stated in empty belief. Painfully, he knew he was only trying to deter from what he knew was the truth just to reassure himself.

Nothing wrong with a little encouragement.

“....”

Moments later, the doors to the restaurant swung open and Amy dashed out and pranced in front of him.

“Guess who got the joooob!” she chirped, twirling in a small circle and outstretching her arms.

A light smile edged Knuckles' lips without him realizing.

“Not you?”

“What!?” Amy gasped and playfully punched him in the shoulder. “Liar! You know I got the job!”

Knuckles gave her a genuine laugh and pushed himself away from the building. “Oh really? You were so enthusiastic, I thought you were cheering for someone who really did get the job. Being a proud loser.”

“P-Proud?! Loser?!!”

“Oh, I'm sorry.” he grinned and leaned down a bit to meet gazes with her. “I didn't mean to call you a loser, Amy.” he added, giving her the most pitiful apologetic facade she had ever seen. “I mean to say...that you were just the last winner....”

Amy's cheeks flustered from embarrassment. “Wh-What?!! Idiot!” she shouted and punched him again in both shoulders.

Knuckles raised his arms and feigned a lazy defense. “Help! Abuse! This pink little girl is attacking me!”

Amy's viridian eyes flared. “Little girl?!! I'll show you what this 'little girl' can do to you!”

“Sorry, I don't 'do' minors.”

“Knuckles!!!” she cried, pounding on his chest with her fists between fits of laughter. “Shut up!! I totally earned that job and you know it!!”

Knuckles shrugged with an airy chuckle. “Well, aren't we confident? So, when do you start?”

“Huh??” she questioned, ceasing her playful assault. He suddenly got so serious, it puzzled her a bit.

Silent for a moment, she eyed him; her large green eyes glistening with expectancy. “That's it?”

He blinked. “What's it?”

“You're not going to keep teasing me?”

“Why would I do that? I really am interested in knowing when you start working, Amy.”

While she wanted to believe his answer whole-heartedly, she was aware of something being amiss.

“Hmmmmm” Her eyes quickly narrowed. “You were out here thinking again, weren't you?”

Knuckles humphed to mask his surprise. She hit the nail right on the head.

“Wow, I'm not allowed to think, huh? Good thing you came out here and stopped me before I fell unconscious...” he retorted sarcastically.

Amy frowned at his overwhelming sarcasm, but it turned out to look more like a cute pout.

“What was it this time...” she lightly demanded, wanting to know the full details of his wandering thoughts.

Knowing she meant business, Knuckles sighed and casually waved the situation away.

“Forget it, allright? It's my problem. And this is your big day. What kind of friend would I be to ruin it?”

“What kind of friend would you be if you hid the truth from me?”

“Amy...seriously. It can wait.”

Amy said nothing, but watched him through silently scolding eyes.

Then, suddenly, she snickered.

“I missed the joke....” Knuckles admitted curtly.

“No no, it's just.... You're right. Let's just drop it for now.”

“Uh huh....”

“...You know...we're starting to sound like some old married couple....” she smiled faintly, attempting to place their discomfort aside and sound cheerful.

Her friend was already in a bad mood. At the very least, she could do her best to alter that.

“Yep, we do.”

“...Does that bother you?” Amy asked meekly.

Knuckles was slightly thrown off by her strange words, but didn't think very much of it. “Nope. I guess that just means you're perfectly fine with being an old lady, Amy...” he joked, starting to walk away from the restaurant.

“Huh? H-hey!” Amy shouted, catching upto him within seconds.

“Old lady?! Care to repeat that??”

“Old lady.” Knuckles obliged and smiled at her.

Silent anger occupied her features for a few moments, then she suddenly burst into laughter.

Appeased, and finally taking his mind off of the previous thoughts of hardships in his marriage, Knuckles fell into chuckles along with her.

Before long, the two friends walked side by side down the streets of their town, joking, talking and relishing in the other's company.

It hadn't occurred to either of them that they were taking the long way back to Sonic and Amy's house.

But that little tidbit wouldn't have even mattered.

Although after a few more minutes passed by, it was Amy who was guilty of having her mind littered with downtrodden thoughts.

As her painful contemplations inflicted their hefty toll on her heart, she slowed her walk until she was nearly dragging her feet.

Eventually, Knuckles caught onto this and peered down at her suspiciously.

“What's the matter with you, Amy?”

Hearing her name spoken with such an invisible power that she secretly held dear, she flinched.

“Uh oh...” Knuckles muttered and imagined the worst when he saw her stop walking. He sighed and crossed his arms. “What is it, now? That time of the month already?”

“Do you...really have to move?”

Her question caught him off guard from its sudden sincerity as well as its randomness.

He sighed. “Amy, we've been through this. I've already explained why I decided for Rouge and the boys to move out of the city with me.”

“For your second marriage...” she spoke almost with complete lack of emotion.

“.... Yes.... I already told you that. Why is it such an issue now?”

“Are you blind?!!” she challenged, raising her voice and glaring right at him.

Knuckles shuddered a bit. “Ohh...maybe I was right about it being that time of the month. You go from laughing to staring at me like you want to choke me.”

“Not now, Knuckles.” she retaliated softly. “We've been having some great times together just being around the other. Sonic's even a little more relaxed now that you're around. He's got another bundle of testosterone that can understand him...”

She frowned slightly at this, but continued on. “But my point is that,...can't you see how much fun we've all been having? Do you really want to just leave all that behind?” she continued in a tone just above a whisper.

Knuckles frowned slightly while he eyed her. He knew something like this would come up again, but as a good friend, he still gave Amy his respect and answered her. “Hey, I didn't say I'd never stop by to visit.”

“You know honestly, Rouge couldn't have picked a better time to take her little 'vacation'. “ Amy added, ignoring his last statement completely.

Knuckles sighed. He was beginning to have a case of dÄ›ja vu with another female ignoring what he had to say and overruling it with something they thought was more important.

Although Amy did have a point about Rouge. While her timing seemed mysteriously accurate for his, Amy's and Sonic's situation, something still remained out of place.

In addition to that, it has been a long time since Rouge and he ever had time to themselves for a change.

“I guess I can't argue with that.” he agreed finally.

Glittering beryl shimmered with a sliver of hope smiled back at him. “So... does that mean you'll hang around with us a bit longer?”

Knuckles paused and pretended to think about this, although, he already had his answer.

Amy watched him intently, eagerly awaiting a response. Especially one that was in her favor.

“...How long would I have to stay for you to stop pestering me about this?”

“3 months!”

“3 months?!!”

“4!”

Knuckles blinked at the girl's forwardness with such random choices. Then he shook his head.

“That's too long, Amy.”

“Oh, come on! The boys will love it! Give them a chance to spend some time with their Auntie Rose!”

Knuckles scoffed. “ 'Auntie' ? Please. I thought the reason you wanted to get this job was to raise enough money to move OUT from Sonic's place. And from the looks of that restaurant, it shouldn't take you long.”

“...!” She began to fidget uncomfortably and pouted. “ 2 months, then.”

“...Looks like I was right.”

“And? Can you stick around for at least 2 more months?”

Knuckles sighed. “We'll see. But I can't just leave Rouge alone for that long. I would want to see her.”

“.... Fine. 2 months it is.” Amy settled curtly, and turned her back to him to begin walking again.

“Hey, Amy!” he called, following after her and grabbed her arm. “1 month, allright?”

Amy said nothing at first, then turned slightly to glance at his form out the corner of her eye. “...Fine, you win. 1 month is better than none at all, I guess.”

“Damn right it is.”

“What am I doing... I'm being so selfish.”

“You sure are.” he agreed and let her arm go.

The two soon fell into a walk together again.

After a short moment of silence, Amy was the first to speak up.

“Thank you... for being here for me.”

“...No problem...” he trailed off. Suspicious thoughts began to litter his mind as to why she would say that so out of the blue.

“Amy...”

“Yes?” she asked, bright eyes wide in wonder.

“...If you and Sonic are together now, why do you want to move out so quickly?”

Her glossed eyes doubled in size, then hid behind subdued lids and she turned away from him.

“Oh that... Well, maybe Sonic will decide to come live with me. I never really actually thought he'd even face his fears and want to really be with me, you know? I... I guess I never really gave it much thought...haha...” she carried unevenly with a nervous laugh.

“I smell bullsh!t. What aren't you telling me?”

Faced with a predicament more personal than she wished it to be, Amy shook slightly while sighing heavily. “It's not important right now. Sonic and I can deal with who is living where later.”

“I see...” Knuckles mumbled dispassionately. He didn't believe her for a second. And from the sound of her voice, it seemed as if she and Sonic weren't going to last as a couple for long. And she knew it.

Yet, in pure contrast to this realized possible outcome, the young girl managed to smile brightly at her friend and tapped him playfully on the shoulder.

“Come on, let's hurry back. I want us all to have a good time with the boys. I get the feeling this month will go by before we know it.”

The gentle movement of the lagoon's waves gingerly awoke Rouge from her slumber. A faint sound passed between her lips while her heavy lids slowly lifted. Liquidy gems of turquoise partially revealed themselves.

The secluded horizon laid before her was bathed with the orange tint of sunset. Her empty hands clutched tufts of grass as the remembrance of what had just taken place shot into her thoughts.

In a quick panic, she sat up and looked around her.

Her clothes had been scattered throughout the clearing yet again, but they weren't her immediate concern.

Nervously, she bit her lip and stood to her feet. “Shadow...?” she croaked.

Her throat was dry. No surprise.

Shadow had her screaming all sorts of things. Yet, while he gave her something she had always longed for and more without any strings attached, she became even more attached to him, knowing it was wrong.

In actuality, she just wanted to experience a truthful and honest moment with him. It didn't have to be sexual.

And from Shadow's point of view, all he wanted was to settle his feeling with her, whether she accepted them or not.

Neither of them prepared to be swallowed up in a stolen moment that wasn't meant for them.

Rouge had herself to 'thank' for that, 4 years ago.

But what was done, was done. The only feasible way to go, was forward.

Rouge had her husband and her boys to go back to. Being with Shadow was wonderful, but it was a mistake.

That's all it was; a wonderful mistake.

A mistake she desperately needed to have in order to realize what was really right for her.

She loved her times spent with Shadow, as short as they were, but now it was time for her to face her responsibilities and fix things with her family.

“Shadow?” she called again with a little more clarity in her thoughts as well as her voice.

A light breeze washed over her back and she turned around instinctively, but covering herself with her arms.

Glowing carmine rested on her form, then slightly narrowed. “Sorry for leaving like that.” Shadow spoke placidly and started to walk in her direction.

“It's allright, but, Shadow, I need to...” she trailed off as she watched her former lover pass right by her as if she wasn't even standing there.

A deathly frigid chill snaked down her spine and made her shudder. Why was he ignoring her all of a sudden? And just what was he doing while she was sleeping?

“Shadow...” she tried again, but felt her fleeting confidence start to fizzle when he stopped with his back to her.

He stood in front of one of her articles of clothing and she assumed at that moment he was going to gather them for her and relaxed a bit.

But his attitude was still bothering her.

He was fully aware of his behavior. But he didn't understand, nor was ready to face, the foreign look in her eyes.

He knew she wanted to leave him. He knew it. He couldn't help but feel used at that moment, but the other half of their situation was also his fault too.

And even still, he did not want to part from her side just yet.

He knew he was being selfish, but her selfishness far outweighed his; and he willingly became full victim to it.

In the back of his mind, he wished something could happen between them, but because of their spontaneousness, that may not be so possible now.

He accepted full responsibility for interfering with her life. Now, he just had to deal with living with another broken heart.

Clearing his throat, he gathered the support he needed and responded coolly to her.

“Yes, what is it, Rouge?” he responded softly. Not a trace of anger nor animosity was evident.

Rouge hesitated a bit, deliberating over if she should move her hands or not.

He had already seen all of her, physically there was nothing to hide. Obviously, emotionally, there was.

But fortunately for her, he had picked up her shirt and tossed it at her.

She watched wordlessly as the weightless fabric fluttered in the air and crumpled at her feet.

Her eyes searched the cloth unintentionally as if could aid her in her time of discomfort.

She shivered again, knowing Shadow felt what she was.

It angered her that they had such a wordless connection, but couldn't be together because of their chosen circumstances.

“...And it's my fault.” she uttered, biting her lip and bending down to grasp her shirt.

A fluttering breeze grazed through her hair and over her skin as Shadow's shoes appeared before her.

“No, it's not.”

Wavering turquoise glossed at the sight of his eyes met with hers. He stood calmly in front of her, wearing a empathizing expression on his face. In his hand, the colors of her swimwear caught her attention and she reached out to take them.

The moment she placed her hand to his, he clasped his fingers around her slender hand and brought her to his chest.

Eager fingers entwined with his while her face nuzzled deeply into his chest fur as Shadow hugged her.

The two of them stayed in the other's embrace for quite some time.

Both exchanged silent and wordless understandings to the other as they both accepted them.

This was the end. After this moment, they would go back to their lives.

The hours felt like mere minutes to them. Once Rouge started to pull away to get dressed, the monumental bond they had just shared crumbled to dust within seconds.

Shadow suddenly felt cold and reached out to hug her again.

This time, her back was turned. But she felt the same way he did.

“Stay with me...”

Rouge's ears perked up at the whisper. Turning, she sought Shadow, but was met with nothing but the tender current of the wind as it rolled over the tropic flora before her.

Were those words Shadow's? Or was it just the wind?

Realization struck her hard and it took all she had not to burst into tears.

Shadow was gone. To where, she didn't know.

She wished he would come back to her, but this was her decision—as well as his.

Fighting back painful and blurring tears, Rouge knelt down to reclaim the remainder of her clothing. Then something shiny caught her moistened eyes and she uncovered it to discover it to be her cell phone.

She hadn't seen it in a while, she almost barely recognized it.

With a shaky hand, she picked up the object and lifted it to her face.

The message symbol was blinking.

Without wasting a second, she flipped the phone open and read the message.

She never knew of the power and strength one word could hold over her to bring her entire world crumbling to its knees.

“Goodbye.”

“I'm borrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrred.” Akai yawned, stretching fully on the couch.

“Hey, watch it, Akai!” Amethyst whined, dodging the flail of his brother's arms while he twisted this way and that. “You almost hit me!”

“Then move, Amafist!” Akai protested.

“I can't!” the smallish violet echidna complained as he squirmed in his spot on the couch.

“Mistuh Idiot won't move!”

Cute perplexity formed across Akai's expressive face and he leaned forward to look past his brother next to him to see Sonic.

Sure enough, the blue hedgehog was slouched in the last seat of the couch with an elbow propped up on the arm of the furniture and his head in his hand.

Rapid sounds of quick breathing and snoring emitted from him while he slept.

It was painfully apparent as to how often Sonic had ever babysat.

Seeing the guy who was supposed to watch them passed out on the couch, the two echidna twins looked at each other with mischievous grins.

“Last one to the kitchen is a rotten egg, Amafist!”

Mere hours before dusk, Knuckles and Amy had finally made it back to the house, laughing and sharing playful banter

Exhausted from all the walking and all the laughing she had been doing, Amy exhaled deeply and wiped the small beads of sweat from her forehead. Her make-up was slightly smudged and her hair was a bit out of place, but that was fine.

And for the first time in a while, she actually felt at home.

'Thank you, Knuckles.' she whispered in her head and took out her spare key.

Watching her, Knuckles wondered why Sonic hadn't bounded to the door to open it already.

But the bumbling blue hedgehog didn't even cross Amy's mind until she dropped the key.

“Klutz.” Knuckles teased.

“Shut up!” Amy shot back., then turned to him. “Why don't you reach down there and get it with those mitts of yours?”

“...Nice try. But I'm not spending hours down there to pick up something that small.”

“Do you even have fingers?”

He half-frowned. “What does that have to do with anything? I just can't hold or pick up really small things...”

Amy sighed and bent down to pick up the key herself; making sure her skirt didn't reveal anything 'enticing' to wandering male echidna eyes.

The moment she unlocked the door, a loud crash and shouting erupted from the other side of the door.

Then a yelp from Sonic.

“Sonic!!” Amy called, but was quickly pushed out of the way by Knuckles who flung the door open and ran in.

Frantically, he looked for his boys. Once he spotted them, he bursted out laughing.

Intrigued by the odd mixture of sounds of Sonic's cries of pain and Knuckles' booming laughter, Amy poked her head in the door and threw her hands over her mouth to stop herself from laughing out loud. But the chortles and snickers that escaped was bad enough to poor Sonic.

Akai and Amethyst had somehow gotten Sonic onto the carpet and were jumping up and down on his back, smacking each other with pillows from the couch

“Help me!” Sonic wheezed, dramatically reaching out to Knuckles and Amy, who were still battling with their spurts of laughter.

“Dadddyyyyyy!!” Akai shouted and jumped off of Sonic to charge over to his father.

Amethyst was a bit more hesitant and looked around a bit as if looking for someone missing from this picture. But when he didn't find them, he followed Akai's example and ran over to Knuckles and hugged his leg. “Dadddyy!!”

“Hey boys!!” Knuckles beamed, kneeling down to hug them both firmly.

As he happily embraced his children, Amy dashed to Sonic's side and placed a warm hand to his face. “Oh Sonic, are you allright?”

“N-never better!” he forced out, pretending to sound cheerful and unscathed.

But Amy saw directly through this. Giggling, she leaned in and placed a light kiss on his nose.

“Can you stand?” she asked, already smoothing her hands tenderly over his skin and lightly grasped his arm.

Wordless for a moment, he stared up into the warm viridian that gleamed brightly at him.

How could he say no?

Once to his feet, his body wavered in a way Amy couldn't decipher. But the next thing she knew, she was close to nearly jumping out of her skin when she felt his arms encircle around her and pull her close.

A sharp gasp escaped her but it was silenced with a quick and sweet kiss.

When their eyes met again, an air of bashfulness and excitement settled in between them. To Sonic, his actions were a form of an apology for his previous actions that day. To Amy, they were a miracle.

“Oh....Sonic....” she smiled and sniffled at the same time, she was so happy.

Just when she got upset with him, he goes and does something like this.

“Sonic...!” she exclaimed in tones between a sigh and a sob as she threw her arms around him tightly.

And just as tautly, Sonic hugged her back.

“Awwwwwwwwwwwww look at dat” Amethyst announced, pointing at the two.

“Huh? I don't care about dat!” Akai muttered, then looked up at his father. “Can we go upstairs and play daddy??” he asked, tugging on Knuckles' pants leg.

“Sure, bud.” Knuckles complied and picked up both boys from around their waists and sat them atop his shoulders.

“Welp, we'll be hitting the hay in a few hours.” he said to both hedgehogs, then led his attention to Sonic. “Better get used to us, Blue, because I'm crashing here for a while.”

Sonic blinked. “How long?”

“A month.” Amy spoke for Knuckles.

Sonic blinked again. “When was this decided?!”

Amy snickered and Knuckles only grinned. “Well, now you know. Oh...and get a room, you two!”

Sonic sucked his teeth at the older male and made a face at the echoing of his rumbling laughter as he headed up the steps.

And of course, Akai and Amethyst chimed in with little cackles of their own.

Moving away from Amy a bit, Sonic sulked. “Great. I'm never gonna get my bed back....”

“Oh Sonic, is that all you can think about?” Amy joked, giving him a little push.

“Hey, watch it Amy!” Sonic playfully warned, feigning hurt. “I just got the snot beat out of me from those kids of his and now you want to beat me up too?”

She grinned alluringly and nudged her shoulder against his arm. “Maybe.”

Sonic sighed, then slipped his arm around her. “Ahhh... I just can't seem to win, can I?”

“Oh, speaking of can't seeming to win, where's Shadow? Have you heard from him?”

“Huh?” Her question caught him off guard for a moment, but the memories of their earlier conversation instantly popped back in his mind.

“Oh! Actually, yeah I have! Hold on, let me get my phone.” he stated, giving her another quick peck on the forehead, just because it seemed nice to do, and zipped to the couch.

Reaching down into the cushions, he felt around for the device, but found nothing.

Starting to panic, he dashed into the kitchen to see if maybe he left it on the charger, but nearly had a fit when he found it in the sink—in pieces.

“What the--! How?!!” he sputtered, then glared up towards the ceiling. “....Them...” he nearly seethed.

Sighing, Amy walked into the kitchen and watched him put the battery back in and slide the back case in place.

Turning it back on, the screen flashed.

Peering over his shoulder, Amy gasped at how many missed calls he had. And moreso that they were from Shadow.

“Wait, there's a text here too.” she pointed out.

Sonic was more focused on the phone actually still working more than Shadow's message.

Until he read its contents:

“...I'm through.... for good....”

-Mel